UK hits of the 90's VI

Time now to look at the biggest hits of the 90's in the UK, again my source is a list I created on my rateyourmusic account (you can check it out here) and again I'm only including candidates that were a hit in the southern hemisphere back in the day. I'm also using alternate art for entries I'm able to find it for in case you don't recognise them from other areas on my site.

This is the only appearance from Billie Piper on this list, this is mainly because the other two hits she had from her debut album "Girlfriend" and "Honey to the bee" both failed to become candidates for this list otherwise they would've appeared on here as well. This is despite the fact that Billie had two chart toppers from her debut album which is further proof that the UK charts were chaotic in the late 90's.

I bet you forgot about these guys given how their biggest hit in the UK was with "Ride on time" in 1989, here they are with their second biggest hit over there which was also the case here in Australia even if this cover of the Earth wind and fire track was much bigger with us Aussies than it was with the Brits.

Even though this was Annie's highest charting solo hit in her native UK, this wasn't her biggest hit over there as that honour goes to "Little bird" from her first solo album in 1992. Although she had other hits in her homeland throughout the decade, these two songs were the only candidates from her I had for this list.

How has it taken me this long to feature a song from Westlife on this list? Admittedly they would've appeared earlier had "I have a dream" been an international hit for the Irish boy band. In any case, we have their debut single on here which proved to be a bigger hit for them in NZ than it was in their homeland, or at least it that seems to be the case with the limited chart run it had in their homeland.

Even though this was far from the biggest hit of its year for Berri in her homeland, that didn't seem to matter for us Aussies as we made it a hit for her here in Australia due to it being an EDM track that was perfect for our dance floors. Sadly, this was her only hit in her homeland, hence why she didn't have another down under.

We have one final entry from Celine Dion on this list, admittedly this wasn't as big in the UK as it was even in NZ where it had a lower peak position than it did on the UK charts. This is likely because the Brits still had fond memories of the Jennifer Rush song this serves as a cover for but were impressed with it enough to make it her breakthrough hit over there.

While this was a massive hit for this Christian pop band in their homeland, I'm willing to bet this took off in the UK due to it being a massive chart topper for them here in Australia as well as its usage in the popular TV series Dawson's creek. This was their only hit over there just like the rest of the world, however their cover of "There she goes" did chart on their charts.

I would ask how the Brits came across this track before PM Dawn's fellow Americans as this was a hit in the UK months prior to it topping the Billboard charts for the duo, but then I remembered that this samples "True" by Spandau ballet which was one of the biggest hits of the 80's over there which would explain the Brits love for this upon its initial release.

"Too late for goodbyes" was too minor of a hit to be a candidate for my 80's list, however Julian Lennon was able to score a massive hit in his homeland seven years later with this track even though its success over there pales in comparison to its success here in Australia. Admittedly I have no idea why we Aussies loved this guy more than anyone else in the world given this was his second chart topper here.

Much like in NZ, this was a flop for Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé upon its initial release in 1987 only for it to be resurrected and reissued in 1992 following the charity concert that was put together in his honour. It even had the same level of success in both countries to boot.

Here we are with the song that put these guys on the map, again it was a hit first in the UK before becoming an even bigger hit here in Australia and NZ before finally topping the charts in their homeland. Again, I have no idea how the Brits came across this track before their fellow Americans did, or for that matter what compelled us Aussies and kiwis to make it such a hit before it was on Billboard.

There's no appearance from Alanis Morissette on this list, so her fans will have to make do with this track from Meredith Brooks which did crossover to the UK likely due to it nearly topping both the Billboard and Australian charts back in the day. Admittedly this is another example of a low peaking song making the cut for this list as a sleeper hit.

Here's the other big hit that Lutricia Mcneal had in both the UK and in NZ, although this didn't have any chance of topping the UK charts like it almost did in NZ which makes it a bigger hit with the kiwis than with the Brits. Even so, it lasted for quite some time on the UK charts which is perhaps how the kiwis came across it in the first place.

I bet you weren't expecting to see Tori Amos on this list, here she is with her two for one deal from 1997 that became an instant chart topper for her in the UK as well as a massive sleeper hit for her here in Australia. Admittedly this might be due to "Professional widow" being an EDM track which I'm sure was a welcomed addition to the dance floors of the day.

You know that the UK charts were chaotic when this debut single from J-lo struggled to appear on this list, doubly so when you find out it had no chance at topping the UK charts despite it being a huge chart topper everywhere else in the world. She had much better luck over there throughout the 00's as her Hollywood career continued to grow.

This is the only other entry on here that failed to crack the UK top ten (the only other candidate being the Montreux E.P from Simply red) I guess the fellow Brits of Shampoo weren't too excited about their contribution to the Mighty morphing power rangers film even if they made it a hit during the Christmas season of 1994.

We have another British artist that didn't necessarily have the biggest hit of their year finding success here in Australia, although in this case they certainly had to wait to connect with us Aussies as this sat on our shelves for about a year before we finally made it a hit for the trio.

Robbie Williams is back once again with another one of his UK chart toppers, once again we have the Brits to thank for why this was eligible for this list as Robbie didn't have any solo success here in Australia until 2000 as we clearly weren't interested in his solo material following his infamous exit from Take that.

This is the final entry from Snap on this list, we would've had another one sooner had "Welcome to tomorrow" become a hit in the southern hemisphere. That song was from the band's third album, which goes to show how much the Brits loved the German group even after the rest of the world was done with their brand of EDM.

This is the final appearance from both Salt n Pepa and En vogue, told you we'd be looking at the RNB group on this list as a featured artist. We also finally have an entry that was a bigger hit in the rapper's homeland than it was in the UK, meaning this feels more like a victory lap for them finally making it on the Billboard charts more than anything.

You're probably wondering why this song is so low on this list if it was such an international success for White town, that's because we Aussies were always bound to make this a hit regardless of its success in White town's homeland give how it's an EDM track with such an interesting premise to its lyrics. Naturally it was the success it achieved here that helped it crossover to America.

Here's the final entry from B*witched on this list, it was also a UK chart topper for the family act despite having such a low placement on this list of mine. Its pitiful chart run in their homeland didn't prevent the kiwis from making it a success despite how big their album was by the time it was chosen as a single.

This really was a comeback for Duran Duran as it doesn't seem to matter where in the world you're from, this was the proof that these guys were willing to adapt to the 90's when so many of their contemporaries failed to do so. They of course ruined the good thing they had going with that infamous cover's album from 1995.

This is the final entry from the Spice girls on this list, it was a predictable chart topper for them given how their performance of this track on TOTP was featured in the Spiceworld film. This was actually a top ten hit for them on Billboard, although I have no idea how given that it failed to appear on my Billboard list.

Whereas "Stop" from earlier prevented the Spice girls from having ten consecutive chart toppers in their homeland, these guys managed to have eleven as it seemed like they could release a cover of the Teletubbies theme (which was a candidate for this list BTW) and it would've debuted at number one on the UK charts at the turn of the millennium.

This is the final hit that Black box had in the UK, although it was clearly more of a hit here in Australia for the Italian group given how much better it did on our charts compered to theirs. I'm not sure why their three hits in Australia and the UK bombed on Billboard considering how "Everybody everybody" and "Strike it up" were candidates for my Billboard list.

I have to imagine this became a Billboard chart topper for Maxi Priest due to it nearly topping both the Australia and NZ charts as this was more of a sleeper hit for the UB40 singer in his homeland than anything else. Again, I have to assume it was more his affiliation with the reggae band than anything else that made him so appealing to us Aussies and kiwis.

Again, we're looking at the European version of this track rather than the American version as despite the original being a chart topper for Whitney on Billboard, it was panned by critics who thought she was desperately trying to pander to her black audience. This version was much better received and saved the album of the same name from being a complete flop for her.

This being a hit in the UK more than explains how it managed to crossover here in Australia, yes this was a Billboard chart topper for Stevie B, however this is the kind of easy listening that rarely manages to find an audience outside of America. Now why the Brits were willing to make this ballad a success, I have no clue.

This was only barely more successful than the original in the UK, even then that's only because it had a higher peak position as this got closer to topping the UK charts than what Diana Ross and Lionel Richie did thirteen years prior. This is Luther Vandross's final entry on this list, although Mariah still has two more to come.

If this entry feels a little low to you, that's because it needed two attempts to catch on in Strike's homeland before it became a hit for them on the British charts. It was only after the second attempt that it found an audience amongst us Aussies, although it received a random surge in popularity likely due to a remix.

This is the other entry from Warren G I mentioned earlier on this list, I'm more surprised that this flopped in his homeland given how I would've thought the Tina Turner interpolation would've made this a shoe in for success on Billboard like it was throughout the rest of the world. For what it's worth, "Freak like me" from featured singer Adina Howard was a candidate for my Billboard list.

So, how many of my readers would've guessed that Eminem's breakthrough in the mainstream came not from his native America but rather the UK? I'm as shocked as you are that it was the Brits who discovered his breakthrough track and not his fellow Americans considering he would go on to be the biggest names in hip hop throughout the 21st century.

We have one final appearance from UB40 on this list as well as an appearance from Robert Palmer who managed to score a second worthy hit in his homeland following "Addicted to love" from four years prior. Even so, this was more of a hit here in Australia and NZ because of our love for Robert down under and UB40 in NZ.

This is another sleeper hit for this list; this would explain why it was also a sleeper hit in NZ given how it was a hit over there the same time it was a hit throughout Europe. It also explains why it was inescapable here in Australia as we Aussies wanted to see where this would fit in with our dance floors before we made it a success here.

We have one final entry from George Michael on this list, it appears his fellow Brits weren't as impressed with his serious phase as the Americans were given how much less popular he was during the first half of the decade in his homeland than on Billboard. Even so, he had a string of minor hits over there that sadly weren't candidates for this list.

This only barely cracked the UK top ten and yet it manages to appear on this list over so many entries that debuted higher than it peaked only to quickly fall off their charts throughout the decade. Indeed, Mariah was on a roll over there following her appearance on MTV unplugged which convinced the world she was the real deal and not a Milli Vanilli style marketing scam.

I bet you thought I forgot about these guys when I mentioned they had two other entries to come on this list, here's the first which was the final hit they had anywhere in the world given how it was the third single from their album Serenity. It seems fitting they had the most success in the UK between them, Corona and La bouche given how they didn't have a top ten hit on Billboard.

I would ask how this managed to nearly top the NZ charts given how it struggled to appear on this list, but then I remember that Ali Campbell was the lead singer of UB40 which means the bigger surprise is that this wasn't a bigger success in his homeland or indeed throughout the rest of the world.

From having the longest run at number one on Billboard to only barely making the cut for this list, granted this peaked during the Christmas season of 1995 in the UK as it did everywhere else in the world, however you have to wonder if there was any correlation between Billboard and the British charts throughout the 90's with such a disparity of success this song had on both charts.

Well, there had to be some reason why this was a hit here in Australia for Usher, although we have yet another chart topper on this list that appears so much lower than you'd think a chart topper should. Usher's popularity would grow over there going into the 21st century just like it did throughout the rest of the world.

It looks like Culture beat's two follow up singles to their top entry on this list proved to be equally as successful as each other in the UK rather than this being a bigger hit than their previous entry here in Australia, this is just another reminder that the Brits didn't allow highly successful albums to affect the success of the singles they spawned.

We are really starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel for this list as much like here in Australia, this debuted high on the UK charts only to quickly fall off once the initial hype it had died off for Meatloaf. Even so, the fact this managed to make the cut when so many other songs from 1997-1999 that did crossover in the southern hemisphere failed to do so should speak volumes to the validity of the UK charts.

It was a close call, but we're able to feature the third hit that Britney Spears had in the 90's on this list, this was a top ten hit in her homeland but too much of a fan hit to feature on my Billboard list for the 90's. Britney would start the 00's off with a chart topper in the form of "Born to make you happy" in the UK.

Full disclosure, this was meant to be the true final entry on this list, however I've bumped it up a few spots as I wanted the final entries to be a true send off to these lists of mine. That said, I had to include this second single from Westlife as it continued the winning streak they had in their homeland which didn't break until a year after its initial release.

I really wanted to cap this list off with this entry to mirror what I did for the 80's list, alas we have one more entry to look at which means this collaboration between MJ and Janet is the penultimate entry for this list. It just goes to show how much more popular the former was in the UK than he was in his native America as well as how much less popular the latter was with the Brits compared to her fellow Americans.

As much as I wanted to cap off this list with an MJ track, I feel this is a better conclusion to it as it's a cover of an Abba song from the 70's that in turn is a celebration of the 50's. It's also a live performance that features several big names in British music that hilariously saw bigger success here in Australia than it did in their homeland.

As for my final thoughts for this list, first off I'll spare you the rant about diversity as if you've made it to this point as well as looked at what I featured on my rateyourmusic list I based this off of, you'll know that the Brits didn't care if you were gay, straight, black, white, male, female, non-binary, cis or trans so long as you made music that they enjoyed listening to. They also didn't care where in the world you're from as this might be the most diverse collection of artists on my site when it comes to where in the world they're from, again it would've been even more diverse had I included the several dozen artists that failed to make an impact here in Australia and NZ back in the day. If I had a negative, it would be that as diverse as the Brits were when it came to who was making the music, said diversity didn't apply to their favourite genres as it was clear that their go to was either EDM, Europop or Eurodance with Britpop being a very distant fourth place and only due to them needing to support their local talent. This is in stark contrast with the RNB, hip hop and rock that dominated the Billboard charts which should tell you why I prefer the American scene over the British scene this decade. Much like the 80's, there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to which British artist managed to find international success throughout the 90's, even getting big through sheer novelty wasn't a death note to your international appeal as we saw throughout this list. Although the decade was fairly balanced overall, I will say that the last stretch of the decade really did seem to dominate the front load and tail end of this list due to how chaotic the UK charts were, this is due to piracy as this was around the time Napster launched and started harming sales around the world. If you want to make a drinking game while reading this list, take a shot every time I mention a song getting stuck at number two on their charts as there's a reason why I began this list pointing out how long a song lasted at number one throughout the decade. It's ridiculous how lengthy these runs at number one were and really did a lot to damage the legacy of these songs that hogged the number one spot at the start of this list.

I think that's all I have to say about the UK charts of the 90's, as always, I had a ton of fun bringing this to life and hope that you've either discovered your next favourite song on here or rediscovered a forgotten gem from when you were younger. Either way, take care and I'll see you around.

UK hits of the 90's V

Time now to look at the biggest hits of the 90's in the UK, again my source is a list I created on my rateyourmusic account (you can check it out here) and again I'm only including candidates that were a hit in the southern hemisphere back in the day. I'm also using alternate art for entries I'm able to find it for in case you don't recognise them from other areas on my site.

I bet you were beginning to wonder if I had forgotten all about these guys, it turns out they had less success overall in the UK than they did throughout the rest of the world even if the Brits were the ones to discover them initially. Indeed, this was the bigger of the two hits they had, although we will get to their other hit eventually on this list.

This may be the only entry from Sash on this list, however he had four other candidates from my rateyourmusic list which goes to show how much the Brits loved the German DJ during the final stretch of the decade. Sash also holds the record for the most songs to peak at number two on the UK charts without ever having a number one hit with five of his songs achieving this feat.

Given how this became a moderate success in America, it only makes sense that it would be a massive hit in the Verve's homeland even if its placement on this list suggests it didn't do so well over there. Again, this is due to how chaotic the UK charts were as this somehow failed to get to number one as opposed to "The drugs don't work" which was a candidate for this list even if it's not appearing on here.

We're racking up the appearances from Madonna on this list, aren't we? Here she is with her titillating single from the Immaculate collection which almost repeated its success on Billboard over in the UK by reaching number two on their charts. Don't think we've seen the last of her as she's still got plenty of entries to come on here.

Seeing as though we had an entry from Ugly kid Joe earlier on this list, it makes sense that Guns n roses would also see some representation on this list with a track of theirs that goes equally as hard as "Everything about you." Admittedly this might've been a hit in the UK due to it being the theme song for Terminator 2 rather than the Brits suddenly wanting these guys to have mainstream success.

Again, we have a fairly low placement on this list for a song that I'm sure did far better back in the day than its position here would suggest, it was the lead single to Spiceworld after all as well as it being the fifth consecutive chart topper from the Spice girls in their homeland.

I wasn't expecting the kiwis to discover Lutricia Mcneal through the success she had in the UK back in the day, however it appears that was the case as the American RNB singer managed to score two out of her three hits she had in NZ on the UK charts with her second single being the bigger of the two. We'll look at her debut single a bit later down this list.

This is the third and final entry from Boyzone to make it on this list, again they would've had nine entries on here had they had any of their other hits crossover to the southern hemisphere. It's interesting to note that if I only went with the Australian or NZ charts, they would only have two entries on here as "Father and son" bombed in NZ whilst this bombed here in Australia.

Honestly, I'm not that surprised this was more of a hit here in Australia than it was in the UK even though it was the Brits that came across this mashup from the Grease soundtrack back in the day, this is mainly because the love we Aussies have for the film to this day is greater than the love the rest of the world has for it.

We're really starting to rack up the heavier rock singles on this list, I should point out that just because these songs weren't as popular as the other genres that dominate these lists, doesn't mean the Brits weren't fans of the genre overall. That said, this collaboration MJ has with Guns n roses guitarist Slash managed to be another entry on this list that almost topped the British charts.

If you can believe it, this was released in the UK before it saw the light of day in Ce Ce's native America, although in a bizarre twist for this site, it turns out this only became a hit over there when it became a massive hit for her on the Billboard charts. Had it been a hit upon its initial release, it might've been able to top the UK charts instead of stalling at number two.

This was such an inescapable hit throughout the rest of the world that even the Brits were willing to let this be a massive hit in the UK even if it didn't quite get to number one on their charts like it did on Billboard and in the southern hemisphere. Their success over there was the same as it was here in Australia, in that this is the only song of theirs they care about.

First off, I know that I should've used this cover art when I featured it on the Australian side of my site as its usage in Flipper is the only reason why it was a hit down under for Shaggy. That out of the way, this was also an immediate success for the rapper in the UK given how he was on a winning streak over there following the success of his debut album.

Although this was a massive hit for N trance in their homeland, it appears their fellow Brits weren't as in love with this remix of the Bee gees classic as we Aussies were given how it not only failed to get to number one on their charts but also left their charts fairly quickly back in the day. It appears the Brits love for their music faded after this as this is their final appearance on this list.

We're still not done with featuring Madonna on this list as her big hit from the Evita soundtrack worldwide was as such in the UK despite all the stiff competition it had from local British artists at the time of its release. While she may have more appearances on here than on my Billboard list, it's worth noting she still found more success in her homeland overall this decade.

Again, you have to forgive this song's low placement on this list as it was yet another victim of how chaotic the UK charts were during the final stretch of the 90's. It also had just one week at number one during the Christmas season before it got beat out by Isaac Hayes "Chocolate salty balls" from the Chef aid soundtrack.

Well, this had to be a massive hit here in Australia and NZ somehow, again it's low placement on this list is more due to its failure to remain in the top twenty as long as many of the other entries on this list due to the stiff competition it had from other weaker songs of the day. All this to say that Ann Lee didn't have another hit in her homeland even as a fan single.

I feel like this would've been a huge sleeper hit here in Australia even if it flopped in the UK as we Aussies already knew who David Stewart was with his worth with Annie Lennox from the Eurythmics. Even so, it's interesting to see his instrumental collaboration with Dutch saxophonist Candy Dulfer become a success in his homeland at the start of the decade.

I guess this being a surprise hit here in Australia is a bit less surprising when you consider that it did fairly well in the duo's native UK, it almost topped the British charts after all (side note, take a shot every time I say some variation of this throughout my site if you want a drinking game.) This is their only entry on this list as well as the only candidate I had from them.

If you're confused as to how we Aussies came across this breakthrough single from R Kelly, then you can thank the Brits for helping us discover it as they were the ones who put him on the map when they made this a huge hit on the UK charts two years before his first big hit in his native America "Bump n grind."

We haven't heard from these guys in a while, have we? Here they are with their third and final entry from this list which proves that the Brits loved them just as much as the Americans did (again it's lucky this was just big enough in NZ to qualify for this spot.) They had one more candidate for this list with "Life is a flower" from 1998, proving the Brits loved them for the remainder of the decade.

It's a bit surprising this wasn't as big a hit in the UK as it was in America for the Real McCoy, at least it was big enough to comfortably make it on this list even though I'm sure we Aussies were following in the footsteps of the Americans when making these guys a household name. Not only where these two entries of theirs the only candidates for this list, but they were also their only hits in the UK altogether.

It looks like the Brits were also huge fans of Shania Twain's 90's rendition of "Girls just want to have fun" as this was a massive hit in the UK just like it was in the southern hemisphere in the final year of the decade. Even though there are only four songs nonfans will know from Come on over, the album spawned a total of twelve singles out of its fifteen tracks.

Why hello Janet, it's been a while since we last looked at you on this list hasn't it? Here she is with the biggest hit of her career in most parts of the world, however it wasn't the case in the UK even though this almost topped the British charts just like her duet with Luther Vandross from earlier on this list.

I don't know what's stranger, the fact that Def Leppard was able to appear on this list or that it was with a song that was released way past their prime. Admittedly this was a sleeper hit for the hair metal band here in Australia (hence why it appears on this list) however how this managed to be their biggest hit in their homeland and not something from Hysteria is beyond me.

It's been a while since we heard from these three, hasn't it? Here they are with their third biggest hit in their catalogue (I skipped over "Oh baby I" which would've appeared slightly higher on this list had it been a bigger hit in NZ) which likely would've charted higher in their homeland had it not peaked during the Christmas of 1995 over there.

I debated in giving a boost to entries from the final three years of the decade on this list like Billboard did for the first two years of the decade, however I didn't want to be biased when I created my rateyourmusic list and I'm certainly not going to be biased on this list either. Please keep that in mind when you see how low this solo debut from Ronan Keating is as there's no doubt it was a massive hit for him in his homeland.

If I didn't vividly remember this track from its constant usage throughout the first season of Beverly hills 90210, I would've been dumbstruck as to how this managed to be an even bigger hit for her here in Australia and NZ than it was in her native UK. While it was a decent hit for her in her homeland, it clearly has novelty written all over it without even mentioning its bizarre music video.

If you can believe it, this was the song that put Mariah Carey on the map in the UK as "Vision of love" was too minor of a hit to be considered for this list with that being the only hit her debut album spawned over there. Of course, things would get better for her as the decade went on as we've already seen on this list.

Looking at how this list is shaping up to be, you'd think I'd be confused to see that Guns n roses has two entries on this list given how the Brits weren't that into heavier rock music over the years. I would be confused if it wasn't for the fact that this was released as a single specifically as a tribute for Freddie Mercury given how the proceeds of this song went towards one of his charities.

Much like the rest of the world, this was Wilson Phillip's only success in the UK as the Brits didn't care much for the other hits they achieved in their native America back in the day. Again, I can't stress how much representation they would've had on my Billboard list if I didn't skip over their other hits they had on Billboard.

The success of this theme song to A league of their own in the UK is sandwiched between what it achieved here in Australia and Madonna's native America as the Brits have it chart higher on the UK charts than it did on ours but not have it go to number one like it did on Billboard.

This was a huge hit over in NZ for Swedish singer Emilia, I'm not sure how this became such a big hit over there as this feels like something that should've been big here in Australia but wasn't for whatever reason. In any case, she scored a massive hit before fading into obscurity even throughout Europe.

This was the only hit that Shaft had in their homeland, although it's worth noting that a different EDM group with the same name had a minor hit in 1991 with "Roobarb and custard" even if they have no affiliation with these guys. Their second single "Mambo Italiano" bombed in their homeland despite it being their only success here in Australia.

I bet you forgot that I said these guys had a second hit in the UK, here it is where it proved to be less popular over there than their earlier entry by a considerable margin. In fact, I think the UK is the only place in the world where this didn't outperform "I wanna sex you up" on the charts.

We haven't looked at a track from Whitney in a while, although we would've had "It's not right but it's OK" been a hit anywhere outside of the UK as that would've appeared slightly higher on this list if it did. This was equally as popular as "I have nothing" which would've appeared right after this entry had that been a hit in Australia or NZ.

Ah yes, the Christmas staple that will forever hog the number one stop at Christmas time for the rest of recorded history. As was the case here in Australia, this also came close to topping the British charts for Mariah Carey upon its initial release despite failing to find an audience amongst her fellow Americans back in the day.

How has it taken me this long to feature a solo single from Robbie Williams you may ask? That's because we Aussies and kiwis ignored "Angels" back in the day which would've appeared towards the top of this list had it been a hit for him in either country. At least this double A-side caught on in NZ likely due to it topping the UK charts for him.

Given how this was a hit in the UK for En vogue, it makes you wonder why we Aussies passed up on this debut single from them if everyone else was able to tell this difference between this track and Wilson Phillips track of the same name we looked at earlier on this list. This is their final entry as a lead artist on here, although they still have one more appearance to make.

This may have had a higher peak in her homeland; however, it appears that the only reason why the kiwis gravitated towards this track was due to the success of her earlier entry due to it being played in several episodes of Beverly hills 90210. We Aussies also noticed this track, just not enough for it to appear on the Australian side of my site.

We Aussies really were taking a page out of the Brits books when it came to Salt N Pepa's success weren't we? Here they are once again on this list with the song they released just before their magnum opus from earlier on this list where it became a massive hit for them in the UK as well as a sleeper hit here in Australia.

This is the final entry from Eternal on this list, although they would've had two more entries had "Angel of mine" and "Just a step from heaven" been hits in Australia and/or NZ back in the day. I likely would've also skipped over this track had we Aussies not been compelled to make it a hit due to it charting on Billboard for some bizarre reason.

You know the Brits were willing to be contrarians against any form of rock and roll when this struggles to make it on this list, I guess they were won over by how catchy this is as well as it being a chart topper here in Australia for Sheryl Crow, however this feels like an outlier even compared to the other rock oriented tracks on this list.

There were only three candidates for this list that failed to crack the UK top ten, this is the first and one that was a bit of a sleeper hit over there due to it being a flop upon its initial release only to catch on when someone created a dance craze based on the choreography in the music video. Even so, it's placement on this list is pitiful compared to what it achieved in Australia and NZ for Steps.

Can you imagine if this song managed to make it to number one anywhere in the world, it very nearly did in the UK which means that this song about spanking really titillated the Brits upon its initial release. This is the final appearance from Madonna on this list, again she racked up quite the number of entries with none that I wound up skipping.

If you're wondering how this managed to be a hit here in Australia, then I feel that its success in the UK should be all you need to know as there's no doubt the Brits fell in love with the Prince sample just like we Aussies did. They were also big fans of "Addams groove" as I skipped over that track from my rateyourmusic list due to its failure in the southern hemisphere.

This is Janet Jackson's final entry on this list, it's fitting that we send her off with the one song in her catalogue to be nominated for an Oscar even if this ballad lost to Bruce Springsteen's entry from earlier on this list.

Although they had several minor hits in their homeland, this is the only one that was noteworthy enough to appear on one of my lists even if I were to include songs from theirs that failed to crossover anywhere in the world. For what it's worth, both "I don't want a lover" and the Wu Tang Clan remix of this track were among the bigger hits they had after this.

Had this song not stalled at number two for the Spice girls, they would've had ten out of ten chart toppers in their homeland. Alas they missed out on that achievement with this track even though it isn't even their worst performing song on the UK charts as we still have one more entry from them to get to on this list.

You know the Brits weren't interested in shaking off the allegations they didn't like rock music when this is among the heaviest songs to make it to number one on their charts, again this would've been higher had there not been so much competition from so many other songs that didn't have a prayer in becoming candidates for this list.

It feels weird that the highest entry from Will Smith on my Billboard list would be his final entry on this list, hey at least this going to number one on the Billboard charts was enough of an incentive for the Brits to make this a hit for the rapper turned actor back in the day.

We have our final entry from Five on this list, this is another song that came so close to topping the UK charts but didn't due to the stiff competition it faced upon its initial release. Naturally its placement on here is pitiful compared to what it achieved in the southern hemisphere even if it should by all accounts be higher on this list.

As this is an EDM track from a British artist, it seems obvious by this point that it didn't necessarily need to be a huge success in Rozalla's homeland to crossover here in Australia. That said, it was a big sleeper hit for the African born diva as well as achieving its entire success on its initial run as opposed to having bonus success down under with its one-year anniversary release.